Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is out with a new campaign ad touting his success in securing free preventive health care services for Kentuckians. The spot, titled “Cares,” tries to paint the Senate Minority Leader as a compassionate Republican who carries a moral obligation to provide sick people with access to government-sponsored health care.
It’s a message you wouldn’t expect from a Republican senate leader who has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and continues to oppose its implementation in Kentucky. But the minute-long ad, featuring Robert Pierce, an energy worker and throat cancer survivor, highlights the Republican Senate leader’s effort to secure “cancer screening programs” for Kentuckians and provide them with government compensation.

The Think Progress piece linked above explains that Mitch has long brought special health "entitlements" home to Kentuckians even as he scorns any kind of health care help for others. But times have changed. Are people supposed to know the difference here between Obamacare and "Mitchcare?" I think that's a long shot in this environment.

It's important to note that Kentucky is one of the few red states with a Democratic governor who took the challenge seriously and went to some lengths to implement the ACA properly. Therefore, public opinion may be more positive than where they sabotaged the law. And McConnell is clearly feeling the heat from his Democratic rival Allison Lundgren Grimes. Still, he is the majority leader of the Senate. And he's out there touting his health care credentials. That's good.